EXPLAINED: Can you live in Switzerland cash free?
You may have heard that in Switzerland ‘cash is king’. But does this mean you have to always carry a pocketful of francs?
It is true that the Swiss, especially the older generation, like to carry cash — preferably plenty of it.
In fact, some in Switzerland even want to enshrine the sanctity of cash in the country’s Constitution.
The Swiss Freedom Movement (MLS) group has collected more than 157,000 signatures to launch a national vote (150,000 are required) to prevent the phasing out of cash in favour of credit cards and other cashless transactions.
“Cash is freedom and an absolute priority for Switzerland, the group said.
“It is contrary to human rights and our heritage of freedom to exclude people who prefer to use cash than a card.”
The referendum has not yet been launched, so it is impossible to know at this time if this stance is shared by the majority of voters, or whether it is limited to just a few traditionalists.
Surveys show, however, that 67 percent of Switzerland’s residents consider cash to be completely indispensable, while 96 percent use cash for payments.
READ ALSO: Why do the Swiss love coins and banknotes so much?
In fact, you can still see people paying their monthly invoices at the post office with cash — sometimes even with the 1000-franc banknotes — as though we are still living in the 1980s.
You can’t really blame these monetary conservatives though, because cash payments do offer far greater privacy — and security as well — than other payment methods.
But does this mean you have to pay cash wherever you go?
Before 2020, when Covid struck, many retailers preferred to be paid in cash, especially on purchases below 10 or 20 francs.
However, the pandemic changed that, popularising, for safety reasons, ‘touchless’ payments, such as debit cards and digital wallets.
A study carried in February 2021, almost exactly a year after coronavirus made its appearance in Switzerland, showed that germ-ladden cash was no longer people’s preferred payment method.
The study’s authors turned out to be visionaries when they said this was unlikely to be a temporary change, forecasting instead that “cash will continue to lose importance” even after the pandemic.
As it. turns out, they were right.
What is the situation now?
Cashless / touchless payments are much more popular and commonplace now — in fact, a growing number of people prefer credit cards and other cashless transactions that have become popular during the pandemic.
So much so, in fact, that Switzerland now ranks high in the European index of countries whose residents favour electronic payments.
According to public broadcaster RTS, the growing number of cashless transactions has been phasing out physical cash.
For instance, while in 2019, 52 percent of all transactions in Switzerland were made in cash, in 2022, this figure dropped to 32 percent. And once the 2023 statistics are known, that percentage is likely to be even lower.
"In people's minds, Switzerland is still the country of cash. But in European comparison, we see quite the opposite — only Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands use less cash than the Swiss,” economist Marcel Stadelmann told the RTS, adding that cashless transactions had become more widespread thanks to the Twint app, which “is unique to Switzerland."
What exactly is Twint?
This free mobile app available through your bank is very convenient because it allows its user not only to pay, but also receive money.
Simply put, it is digital cash (not to be confused with bitcoin, which is digital currency).
Twint offers an easy and quick way to make instantaneous payments.
A big part of its convenience is that it can be — and increasingly is — used at cash registers, vending machines and parking meters, as well as in online shops — pretty much everywhere in Switzerland, even in places that don’t accept credit cards.
These days, the vast majority of merchants in Switzerland accept both Twint and a debit card from your bank, which means you can leave your house without a franc in your pocket.
READ ALSO: What is Twint and how does it work?
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It is true that the Swiss, especially the older generation, like to carry cash — preferably plenty of it.
In fact, some in Switzerland even want to enshrine the sanctity of cash in the country’s Constitution.
The Swiss Freedom Movement (MLS) group has collected more than 157,000 signatures to launch a national vote (150,000 are required) to prevent the phasing out of cash in favour of credit cards and other cashless transactions.
“Cash is freedom and an absolute priority for Switzerland, the group said.
“It is contrary to human rights and our heritage of freedom to exclude people who prefer to use cash than a card.”
The referendum has not yet been launched, so it is impossible to know at this time if this stance is shared by the majority of voters, or whether it is limited to just a few traditionalists.
Surveys show, however, that 67 percent of Switzerland’s residents consider cash to be completely indispensable, while 96 percent use cash for payments.
READ ALSO: Why do the Swiss love coins and banknotes so much?
In fact, you can still see people paying their monthly invoices at the post office with cash — sometimes even with the 1000-franc banknotes — as though we are still living in the 1980s.
You can’t really blame these monetary conservatives though, because cash payments do offer far greater privacy — and security as well — than other payment methods.
But does this mean you have to pay cash wherever you go?
Before 2020, when Covid struck, many retailers preferred to be paid in cash, especially on purchases below 10 or 20 francs.
However, the pandemic changed that, popularising, for safety reasons, ‘touchless’ payments, such as debit cards and digital wallets.
A study carried in February 2021, almost exactly a year after coronavirus made its appearance in Switzerland, showed that germ-ladden cash was no longer people’s preferred payment method.
The study’s authors turned out to be visionaries when they said this was unlikely to be a temporary change, forecasting instead that “cash will continue to lose importance” even after the pandemic.
As it. turns out, they were right.
What is the situation now?
Cashless / touchless payments are much more popular and commonplace now — in fact, a growing number of people prefer credit cards and other cashless transactions that have become popular during the pandemic.
So much so, in fact, that Switzerland now ranks high in the European index of countries whose residents favour electronic payments.
According to public broadcaster RTS, the growing number of cashless transactions has been phasing out physical cash.
For instance, while in 2019, 52 percent of all transactions in Switzerland were made in cash, in 2022, this figure dropped to 32 percent. And once the 2023 statistics are known, that percentage is likely to be even lower.
"In people's minds, Switzerland is still the country of cash. But in European comparison, we see quite the opposite — only Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands use less cash than the Swiss,” economist Marcel Stadelmann told the RTS, adding that cashless transactions had become more widespread thanks to the Twint app, which “is unique to Switzerland."
What exactly is Twint?
This free mobile app available through your bank is very convenient because it allows its user not only to pay, but also receive money.
Simply put, it is digital cash (not to be confused with bitcoin, which is digital currency).
Twint offers an easy and quick way to make instantaneous payments.
A big part of its convenience is that it can be — and increasingly is — used at cash registers, vending machines and parking meters, as well as in online shops — pretty much everywhere in Switzerland, even in places that don’t accept credit cards.
These days, the vast majority of merchants in Switzerland accept both Twint and a debit card from your bank, which means you can leave your house without a franc in your pocket.
READ ALSO: What is Twint and how does it work?
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